You know you are getting old when:

[Harp]

My missus asked, "who was the only English pope?" "Adrian the Fourth," I told her. It was a crossword question. " "How did you know?" She replied. "Learned that at five years old, at Catholic school. Long term memory, the last to go." I answered. She entered the answer in her crossword, then I added. "Actually his name was Hadrian and he was pope from 1154 to 1159."

Should have said Rex Harrison.
Played Julius VI opposite Charlton Heston as Michelangelo.

 

[tonyb]

Was watching "My Brilliant Friend" on HBO, which is an Italian drama made in Italy, and is in all Italian. It's set in the 1960s, and I noticed a chair next to the phone in a hotel room. It struck me that most people younger than me probably would not understand the connection between the two.

Doubtful they’ve ever seen a telephone chair — those seats with a small table attached with a shelf or two for telephone books.

I may have seen one in an “antique” mall in recent years, but it’s been so long since I’ve come across one in its natural habitat there’s no way I could say when that was. (Now it’ll come to me in a dream.)

 

[3fingers]

My grandparents home (built in 1936) had a small alcove between kitchen and livingroom for the telephone. The device itself hung in a little arched area recessed into the wall. If that little cathedral looking nook still exists I doubt any of the younger among us would know what its purpose was.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Had one of these in an apartment years ago -- building was 19th century, but had been updated some time in the '30s with one of those lobby buzzer systems and telephone alcoves. Mine had a space in the bottom to mount the ringer box.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Long term memory, the last to go." I answered.

Indeed. I'm always spouting off obscure historic names and dates that I learned long ago. At the same time, I'm forgetting where I set down my reading glasses 2 minutes earlier.

Re: the telephone alcove. The first house that we lived in had one, and it still had a telephone in it. That whole tract of houses is now gone, I believe. Vaguely recall once seeing a telephone chair and wondering what on earth it was for.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's a generation of adults abroad in the world today who have never had need to use a telephone *book*, let alone a telephone chair or a telephone nook.

Telephone books were one of the things I used to teach myself to read. I still find them fascinating.

 

[Harp]

There's a generation of adults abroad in the world today who have never had need to use a telephone *book*, let alone a telephone chair or a telephone nook.

Telephone books were one of the things I used to teach myself to read. I still find them fascinating.

I loved those books. And I detest cell phones... only after they tore all pay telephones out of LaSalle Street Station
did I realize that the era was ending. Even then, I resisted, and often stopped at the Four Seasons Hotel along
Michigan Avenue to use a lobby phone booth, or the basement nook at St Peter's Church.
Today the booths, nooks, and crannies are long gone. And I haven't seen phone books since when.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Never had a cell, never will. No interest in having every facet of my life sliced, diced, and merchandised by Big Tech. I don't use Amazon for the same reason.

I do still get a phone book, though. You have to "opt in" to receive one, and it no longer contains residential numbers, but given how spotty my internet service is at home there's still a practical reason to have one around the house.

 

[Harp]

Never had a cell, never will. No interest in having every facet of my life sliced, diced, and merchandised by Big Tech. I don't use Amazon for the same reason..

The wave caught me. And like direct deposit salary to some extent couldn't fight a lost cause.
Still, I do try to limit Tech's intrusion. Last year however I made the mistake of calling a bookie op just to
get a line on an Oklahoma football game, and every bookie in the US-of-A started solicit calling. Now, with all
sports temporarily sidelined, these carrion flew away; leaving a single Darwinian who calls offering horse racing tips.
I talked to the drone the other day and explained I was the last guy around town who needed to pay for hoss tips.
And the only way to lay down a bet now is to use a computer track service and I'd rather go off track betting
with cash and tickets in the paw instead.
I do use Amazon for books. Have the load sent to my UPS box locale since I'm never at home and pick up
on Saturdays. Working around the tech intrusion is difficult but I do keep it as minimal as possible.

 

[Bushman]

I still remember enjoying trying to find my and my relative's numbers in the phone book as a child. I also used to enjoy trying to find all the people in the area with the same name as me.

 

[GHT]

Never had a cell, never will. No interest in having every facet of my life sliced, diced, and merchandised by Big Tech. I don't use Amazon for the same reason.

I do still get a phone book, though. You have to "opt in" to receive one, and it no longer contains residential numbers, but given how spotty my internet service is at home there's still a practical reason to have one around the house.

In the UK you had to opt out if you didn't want your number in the phone book, your number was known as, ex-directory, it was never given out to anyone enquiring. Nowadays, with the callers number coming up on screen, an ex-directory call will show as number withheld. Unfortunately scam callers usually have their number withheld, so ex-directory phones have become something of a pariah.

 

[ChiTownScion]

The wave caught me. And like direct deposit salary to some extent couldn't fight a lost cause.
Still, I do try to limit Tech's intrusion. Last year however I made the mistake of calling a bookie op just to
get a line on an Oklahoma football game, and every bookie in the US-of-A started solicit calling. Now, with all
sports temporarily sidelined, these carrion flew away; leaving a single Darwinian who calls offering horse racing tips.
I talked to the drone the other day and explained I was the last guy around town who needed to pay for hoss tips.
And the only way to lay down a bet now is to use a computer track service and I'd rather go off track betting
with cash and tickets in the paw instead.
I do use Amazon for books. Have the load sent to my UPS box locale since I'm never at home and pick up
on Saturdays. Working around the tech intrusion is difficult but I do keep it as minimal as possible.

Check out a phone app called RoboKiller. $29.99: highly entertaining, and in two months the solicitation calls will cease.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Ah, I prefer this young Christine McVie.

 

[Fading Fast]

Ah, I prefer this young Christine McVie.

I always liked that she did her job with so much less fuss and noise than Stevie Nicks.

 

[GHT]

 

[Trenchfriend]

Damn, I'm an old fart, now...

Carrie's sister, aaaaaaah...

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Looking at a FB post of someone's grandmother's personal diary which was written in shorthand. The Original Poster wanted to know if anyone could translate it. Reading the comments, there are people alive today who have never HEARD of shorthand and were calling it "an alien language." I went to HS between 1989 and 1993 and shorthand was still a class you could take. I understand shorthand isn't a thing anymore for the most part, but geez! I just find it odd people are unaware of things that happened before they were born.

 

[Fading Fast]

Looking at a FB post of someone's grandmother's personal diary which was written in shorthand. The Original Poster wanted to know if anyone could translate it. Reading the comments, there are people alive today who have never HEARD of shorthand and were calling it "an alien language." I went to HS between 1989 and 1993 and shorthand was still a class you could take. I understand shorthand isn't a thing anymore for the most part, but geez! I just find it odd people are unaware of things that happened before they were born.

My mom, born in '32, knew shorthand and wrote notes, etc., when I was growing up that incorporated some shorthand (more the less patience she had that day) - so, while I don't know it, I both know of it and probably 10% of it. Not quite another language, but pretty cool that it existed. In old movies, when I see a secretary called in to "take a memo or dictation," I think she must be writing that in shorthand.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I have a few shorthand books myself, from when I was a reporter -- I tried to teach myself how to use it figuring it'd be easier for taking notes during interviews, but I never managed to master it. Ended up creating a kind of shorthand of my own, which I no longer remember how to read.

 

[Harp]

My mom, born in '32, knew shorthand and wrote notes, etc., when I was growing up that incorporated some shorthand (more the less patience she had that day) - so, while I don't know it, I both know of it and probably 10% of it. Not quite another language, but pretty cool that it existed. In old movies, when I see a secretary called in to "take a memo or dictation," I think she must be writing that in shorthand.

My mom became a bank secretary after high school and I can recall Gregg's Shorthand lying around the house.
Never gave it a shot myself. Looking back, the scratch might have proved useful.